Filled textile fabrics, for example those having thermoregulating, antimicrobial or absorbent properties, are already known.
Prior art materials used in the form of textile fabrics require at least one additional processing step after the production of functional fibers, and/or contain only small amounts of functional particles. DE 10 2008 045290 A1 for example discloses fibers which are then used to produce textiles, wound dressings, filters, etc. Additive fractions are exclusively limited to zinc white (ZnO and ZnS), the fraction of which is limited to a maximum of 30%, while particle sizes are less than 15 μm. It is mentioned that the particle content can also be higher for fibrous nonwoven applications, but no teaching is communicated as to how such nonwoven fabrics are obtainable. The object was not a functional fibrous nonwoven having a high particle content, but washable and dyeable bactericidal moldings/fibers combining controlled delivery of active ingredients with prescribed durability to washing.
Carrier material often utilizes thermoplastically processable polymers whose melts can be processed into a spunlaid, for example in EP 1 199 393 A2. A spunlaid produced from thermoplastic polymers with hydrophobic admixtures is concerned there. The purpose is to concentrate the hydrophobic admixtures at the fiber surface. This is achieved by the fiber being drawn by the air stream to such an extent that the average fiber diameter is equal to the particle diameter or decreases up to at most half the particle diameter. The fraction of masterbatches with the mixture agents is between 10 and 20 wt % and must not be higher so as not to impair the further processing into roofing membranes or the use in sanitary napkins.
Particle-containing filaments/fibers are not consistently obtainable in normal filament/fiber-spinning processes when the fraction of functional particles is very high at not less than 40%, since broken ends would be a frequent consequence.
Various sectors of the textile industry have a high need for fiber materials with additional functional benefit for the consumer, which shall also be inexpensive to produce and easy to process. Application sectors for such fiber materials include for example as interlining material in the apparel industry, industrial textiles, for example hygiene applications, wound dressings, as carrier materials, as building and transportation material, as insulation material, as cosmetic material or as filters, for example for the filtration of wastewater or exit air and binding of air and water ingredients.
Fabrics comprising functional additives are obtainable in principle either by fabric production along a textile value-added chain or fibrous nonwoven formation in each case from functionally additized fibers, the coating of sheetlike textile structures with additive dispersions or the incorporation of solid or liquid functional additives in already produced fibrous nonwoven structures.
Fibers having a fraction of functional additives which amounts to more than 40 wt % are not consistently obtainable in normal fiber-spinning processes, since broken fibers are a frequent consequence. Although this disadvantage can be partly redeemed in the use of functional fibers fabricated via solution spinning, the subsequent textile fabric production processes also always require a minimum strength and at least one additional processing step.
Prior art materials produced in the form of functional textile fabrics require at least one additional processing step following a separate production of functional fibers, and/or contain only small amounts of functional particles. The separate operation to produce a fibrous nonwoven imposes an additional stress on the highly filled fibers and as a result these are damaged and only meet comparatively low-quality requirements in respect of functionality and/or mechanical durability.